The Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys have met every season for the past 112 years for the annual Bedlam Series game at the end of the year. But thanks to Oklahoma’s move to the SEC in the next few years, it looks like the iconic college football rivalry will be ending.
According to Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have acknowledged that the rivalry is unlikely to continue once Oklahoma moves to the SEC due to non-conference scheduling issues.
“It (playing Oklahoma) presents logistical issues under our current (scheduling) structure,” Oklahoma State AD Chad Weiberg told The Action Network. “We don’t have any openings to play them. We’re full. Unless there are significant undertakings to make the game happen, it can’t happen.”
“Oklahoma State has shown no interest to schedule any future games in football, so we’re moving on (with filling OU’s future nonconference openings),” Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione told The Action Network.
It’s certainly massive and sad news for all college football fans, and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts.
I spent two years covering HS/college football in Oklahoma, including a Bedlam GameDay game where Lee Corso shot something into the air.
This hurts my CFB-loving soul https://t.co/raqmz1qdGc— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) September 20, 2022
This is wild. Imagine if Michigan and Michigan State stopped playing each other. https://t.co/wiE6FKPZuc
— Brandon Champion: Low Ego, High Output (@BrandonthaChamp) September 20, 2022
https://twitter.com/dieter/status/1572228201098903552?s=20&t=kZMWL1IC4fH8xwJ67jSm9A
What an absolute shame https://t.co/nDX0NOrm3k
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) September 20, 2022
To be fair, this isn't a game many people outside of Norman and Stillwater care about. Oklahoma dominates the series. The Texas-Oklahoma game draws more attention, as it should. Losing this series is no big deal. Good for tv. https://t.co/Wb1pkm1ffg
— Nick Kraynok (@Nick_Weather) September 20, 2022
logging off the app https://t.co/gxC2ukRdFb
— Kegan Reneau (@KeganReneau) September 20, 2022
The good news is that both athletic directors are confident that the rivalry will be able to continue across all other sports. But unfortunately, the football matchup will be coming to an end thanks to conference realignment.
